Powerco's mobile substation keeps customers in Douglas connected

Powerco's new mobile substation has been installed for its first job at the Douglas substation in Taranaki.

Eliminating the need for planned power outages during substation maintenance work, the $2.2 million vehicle will keep the lights on for customers in the area over the next eight weeks while work is carried out.

Powerco's Service delivery and systems operations general manager Ian Skipworth says the mobile technology provides greater flexibility for maintenance and avoids disruption to communities.

"We can connect the mobile substation to our network without any interruption to the power supply, removing the need to turn off the power to our customers.

"From a safety perspective, our crews no longer need to work near live equipment. It also removes the pressure to complete all work within a scheduled outage time."

Work on the Douglas substation has now started and is expected to take eight weeks to complete.